The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-04-28

trials of their particular position. One great
trial for clerks is the reconsideration of Gus
toners. There are people who are entirely
polite everywhere else, but gruff and dicta-
torial and contemplate when they come into
store to buy anything. There are thousands
of men and women who go from store to
store to price things, without any idea OF
purchase They are not satisfied until every
roll of goods is brought down and they have
pointed out all the real or imaginary defects.
They try on all kinds of kid gloves and
stretch them out of shape, and they put on all
styles of cloaks and walk to the mirror to see
how it would look, and then they sail out Of
the store, saying: II will not take it to-day"
which means: II don't want it at all, leav-
ing the clerk, amid a wreck of ribbons and
laces and cloths, to smooth out $500 worth of
goods-not one cent of which did that man
or woman buy or expect to buy. Now, 1
call that a dishonesty on the part of the
customer. If boy runs into a store
and takes a roll of cloth off the
counter and sneaks out into the street, you
all join in the cry, pell nell: "Stop thief"
When l see you go into a store, not expect
ing to buy anything but to price things,
stealing the time of the clerk and stealing the
time of his employer, l say, too: "Stop thiefn
If were asked which class of persons most
need the grace of God amid their annoy
ances, 1 would say; "Dry goods clerks" All
the indignation of customers about the high
prices comes ON the clerk. For instance:
A great war comes. The manufactures are
closed. The people go off to battle. The
price of goods runs up. A customer comes
into a store. Goods have gone up. "How
much is that worth?' "a dollar" "a del
lari Outrageous. A dollari" Why, who is
to blame for the fact that it has got to be
dollar? Does the indignation go out to the
manufacturers on the banks of the Merrimac
because they have closed upa No. Does the
indignation go out toward the employer, who
is out at his country seats No 1t comes on
the clerk. He got up the warl He levied
the taxesl He puts up the rentsl OF course
the clerk!
Then great trial comes to clerks in the
fact that they see the parsmonious side Of
human nature. You talk about lies behind
the counter-there are just as many lies be-
fore the counter. Augustine speaks of man
who advertised that he would, on a certain
occasion, tell the people what was in their
hearts A great crowd assembled and he
stepped to the front and said: Il will tell you
what is in your hearts: To buy cheap and sell
dearp Oh, people of Brooklynl lay not aside
your urbanity when you come into a store.
Treat the clerks like gentlemen and ladies'
proving yourself to be a gentleman or Z
lady. Remember that if the prices are high
and your purse is lean, that is no fault of ths
clerks And if you have son or daughter
amid chose perplexities Of commercial life
and such one comes home all worn out, be
leplent and know that the martyr at the stake
no more certainly needs the grace of God
Chan our young people amid the seven
times heated exasperations of a clerks life.
Then there are all the trials which come to
clerks from the treatment of inconsiderate
employers. There are professed Christian
men in this city who have no more regard for
their clerks than they have for the scales on
which the sugars are weighed. A clerk is no
more than so much store furniture No con-
alteration for their rights or their interests.
Not one word of encouragement from sunrise
to sunset, nor from January to December.
But when anything goes wrong-a streak Of
| dust on the counter or box with the cover
| off-thunder showers Of scolding Men i'm
! perious, capricious, cranky toward their
| clerks-their whole manner as much as to
| cay: "All the interest have in you is to see
what can get out of you"
Then there are all the trials of incompetent
wages. Some of you remember when the
war broke out and all merchandise went up,
| and merchants were made millionaires in six
months by the simple rise in the value of
| goods. Did the clerk get the advantage of
| that rise? Sometimes, not always 1 saw
estates gathered in those times over which the
curse of God has hung ever since The cry
| of underpaid men and women in those stores
reached the Lord of Sabaoth, and the indig-
nation of God has been around those estah-
hshments ever since; rumbling in the car.
riage wheels, flashing in the chandeliers,
glowing from the crimson upholstery, thun-
dering in the long roll of the ten pin alley
Such men build up palaces Of merchandise
heaven high, but after a while disaster will
come along and will put one hand on this pill
lar, and another hand on that pillar, and throw
itself forward until down will come the
whole structure, crushing the worshipsrs as
grapes are mashed i'll wine press.
Then there are boys in establishments who
are ruined-in prosperous establishments
ruined by their lack of compensation. In
how many prosperous stores it has been for
the last twenty years that boys were given
just enough money to learn them how to
steal! Some were seized upon by the police.
| The vast majority of instances were not
known The head of the firm asked: SWhere
is George now?" "Oh, he isn't here any
more"
A lad might better starve to death on a
| blasted heath than take one cent from his en-
ployer. Woe be to that employer who un-
necessarily puts temptation in boys way
There have been great establishments in these
| cities, building marble palaces, their owners
| dying worth millions and millions and mil
| lions, who made a vast amount of their estate
out of the blood and muscle and nerve of
| Iolo T
not mention any name. But I mean men
who have gathered up vast estates at the ex-
pense of the people who were ground under
their heel. "Oh,n say such merchants, eff
you don't like it here, then go and get a bet
ter place. AS much as to say: 1--WE got
you in my grip, and l mean to hold you; you
can't get any other place" Oh, what a con-
| trast we see between such men and those
Christian merchants of Brooklyn and New
York who to-day are sympathetic with their
clerks-when they pay the salary, acting in
| this way: ''ThiS salary that | give you is
not all my interest in you. You are an i'm
mortal man; you are an immortal woman;
am interested in your present and your
everlasting welfare; l want you to under
stand that, if 1 am a little higher up in this
store, l am beside you in Christian sympa-
thy" Go back forty years to Arthur Tap
pens store i'll New York-a man whose worst
enemies never questioned his honesty. Every
morning he brought all the clerks and the
accountants and the weighers into room
for devotion. They sang They prayed.
They exhorted On Monday morning the
clerks Were asked where they had attended
church the previous day, and what the ser
mons were about. 1t must have sound
ed strangely that voice of praise along
the streets where the devotees of Mammon
were counting their golden beads You say,
Arthur Tapppen failed Yes he was un-
fortunate, like great many good men, but
nnderstand he met all his obligations before
he left this world, and know that he died in
the peace of the Gospel and that he is before
the throne of God to-day-forever blessed.
If that be failing, 1 wish that you might all
fail There are a great many young men in
this city--yea, in this housewife want a
word of encouragement-Christ encour-
agement. One smile of good cheer would
be worth more to them tomorrow morn
ing in their places of business than a